The Nadar
by Korean Pearl
Summary: Fire... fire... schools... schools are made of wood...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Yay! My second Animorphy style book. I don't own Animorphs, by the way. Read The Aging before you read this, Nadar Chronicles II: Earth, before you read that, Nadar Chronicles I: The Andalite Home World, before you read _that_, and Elemaki Chronicles before you read _that._ To simplify things, just go to my bio and then you'll see all the stories you need to read that you haven't read yet, in order too.

Or you can just read this. I put a good enough summary in it.

Another note: These books happen right after the David trilogy.

Chapter 1:

My name is Maya.

I am quite good at fighting.

So leave me alone.

Ok, so that was probably the worst hycoo written on the face of the planet, but I hate poetry and I just wanted to get the test over with. I mean, I could write:

My name is Maya.

I really hate poetry.

Because it's stupid.

But why get a worse grade when you could write something equally dumb for more points?

Next question: Read the following poem and answer the questions after it.

No, I thought you were supposed to _eat_ it.

Do not go gentle into that good night

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

By Dylan Thomas

And what would a _poet_ like Dylan Thomas know about death?

I shook my head, annoyed. Mad, mad, mad. Hungry, too.

I stared at the clock. This poetry unit was driving me crazy. I was so glad it was over.

I guess you could say that I'm more of a science math person. Although _person_ is misleading.

See, I'm an alien. Simple as that. One two three. Cat on a mat. Squirrel up a tree.

This rhyming thing is beginning to affect my brain.

Not that all aliens are science math buffs, but I happen to belong to the industrious race of the aliens that inhabit the Andalite Home World.

Note the sarcasm. I actually did live on the Andalite Home World, but only as a member of an inferior race called the Elemaki. My mother was an Elemaki, my father was an Andalite.

Although he's a Controller now.

Yeah, my dear old dad (note the sarcasm, again) is the first Andalite Controller. He also slept with my mother when he was an aritsh, and she had me and my brother. Of course he left her for an Andalite, but I'm over that. I kinda have to be.

Three years after my brother and I were born, my mother died. Two years later, my brother died. With the help of the Ellimist who gave me a ring (in a twisted warped kinda way) that would let me stay in morph for longer than two hours, I made it to Earth, where I met a girl name Eun-hee. The first human to ever love me, even though I wasn't related to her.

And of course, she died three years later.

I met another girl like her, named Anna, who made me swear to keep fighting whoever invaded Earth, as she was – you guessed it – dying.

I was adopted by the Lancings, a foster family who actually like the kids they take in.

A year after I moved in, my new daddy died.

It's all recorded, since I'm a stickler for keeping records, but there's a summary for you. I joined the Animorphs after this long line of deaths that have shaped me, in such a way that I can hardly believe that I have become what I am.

Confusing? Well, I'm a Nadar. Not the Spanish verb to swim, but a Nae-dar, long a in the first syllable.

I'm a bloodthirsty killing freak.

After seeing as many deaths and murdering so many people, you kinda end up becoming one.

But I don't like to think about it. I live with it, but I don't dwell on it.

Even being a poet is better than being a Nadar.

I finished the test quickly, and then handed it into the teacher fifteen minutes early. One of the benefits of being a super smart alien.

I walked out the door, although I really had nothing to do. For the first time in a while, we didn't have a million missions one right after another, and it was a relief to take a break.

Even if I was still addicted to fighting.

So, strolling through the halls, I simply reflected. It's something I do a lot, actually. I have an amazing memory and I'll bring up scenes from ages ago that humans would have either forgotten or would be unable to recall perfectly.

Then again, sometimes that's a bad thing.

I nodded to a teacher who was hurrying by me and then smiled as I thought of the time I had first met her. When I first came to high school, she had disapproved of me intensely. A troublemaker, she had told my mom several times.

"I remember from reading reports about your child, that she was a troublemaker. Always getting into fights in middle school, even as an eighth grader," she sniffed, as if somehow being an eighth grader made you more mature. Not in middle school, lady!

"Realize that we do not tolerate this behavior in high school," she told my mom, and my mom told her that she understood that "troublemakers were unacceptable" all in a high, stuffy voice.

I almost cracked up laughing, as seeing my mom make fun of someone was too much. One of the things about being a Nadar though, is the self-control, and I have a lot of it.

Still, my mom is awesome. She's a foster mother to a about a million kids, and even after my dad died, she still took kids in. And yeah, sometimes she does make fun of stuffed up ladies like that woman, but she also took her seriously and helped me stop fighting in school so much.

It helps that I fight outside of school, but my mom doesn't need to know that. I mean, my mom was a Controller – although she won't tell me anything about _how_ she became one, or her life then. But that's understandable, I haven't told anyone about my previous life in detail, either. But anyway, I decided not to tell her because then if she gets infested, she won't know about me.

The less information for those who cannot act, the better it is for those who can.

That goes along with all my sayings, like a Nadar's purpose is to live to fight, and to fight to die; being beautiful on the street is a death wish, and all that good stuff.

My mind wandered over to our most recent missions, and I shivered.

David.

He reminded me eerily of… of humanity, which is what scared me. Of what humans were like. I'm not fighting the Yeerks to save humans – as far as I care, they can go you-know-where. I'm not like the other Animorphs, who want to save Earth for all of the humans. In my case, there were a few humans that took me in, that loved me, and that I vowed to avenge, and they are why I fight.

Besides the fact that I like fighting.

And all our previous missions came rushing back to me. A year's worth of fighting, of getting to know this group of kids called the Animorphs so well that "we had no other social life," as Marco put it. And other things. Cassie quitting. Tobias getting his human body back in a twisted way that made me want to kill the Ellimist.

Although he was already dead for putting me on Earth in the first place.

The bell rang, a shattering sound that I hated. I put my hands over my ears and continued to push through the now crowded hallways, when I bumped into someone.

"Sorry," I muttered, to which a voice responded, "You should be."

I almost sighed. What rudeness. Why did Cassie, Marco, Jake, Tobias and Rachel really want to save humans? I didn't think they were worth it.

I looked up at the bully's stupid face, and almost pushed my fist into it, but stopped. Control yourself, Maya. The less people notice you, the more you'll learn.

I give myself a lot of sententious advice.

I glimpsed Rachel laughing with some of her old, but when she saw me, she called out, "Hey, we've got to get together with the others after school today. Jake said so."

Returning her coded message with light banter, I said, "So if _Jake_ says so, everyone has to obey? Huh, is that it?"

She laughed and shook her head at me, and I continued to the lunch room where I found a really hyper girl nicknamed Twilek, obsessing over her Kyrgyzstani crush, who really wasn't that good looking.

"He's SOO HOT!" she shrieked into my ear as soon as I sat down.

I shook my head. "He weighs about sixty pounds, and is ugly."

Miffed, Twilek snapped, "But you don't ever crush on anybody, so how you would you know?"

'Cause I'm an alien?

Before I could think of an answer, another friend named Becky sat down. "Quiz me on Bio," she demanded of Twilek.

I picked up my milk and swallowed; only half listening to them babble about population genetics when I almost choked.

A huge banner was strung across one wall of the lunchroom, blaring "Come support your class in the Country Fair today!"

Underneath it, in slightly smaller letters, was written "Sponsored by the Sharing."

**Review Responses**

Here's the next post – review please!

**Anonymous – cat **– Oh. I never read that book, so sorry about that mistake. I didn't really like that book (the Aging) because it was transitory, and as I say about a million times a day, I really don't like writing anything that is shifty. This book is more settled though. And about Cyndi and Eamon, if they do continue to have a relationship it will either be just mentioned briefly or brought up later in one of my later books. And Cyndi did stop aging – sorry I wasn't that clear about that stuff. She just aged ten years over a couple of days and now she will age regularly. And here's the next book!

**Hell-Flame-Narf** – Thanks for your review, and don't worry, I'll just keep updating away so it'll always keep coming. I'll be waiting for you!

**Naric** – Oh yeah! I remember! looks embarrassed And you were right. Very right. Thanks!

**Custardpringle** – Anonymous-cat says that it was an interesting idea. I thought so too…

Review! Review! Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Hey, are you guys going to that fair thing tonight?" I asked, careful to keep my voice normal.

Becky looked up. "Time, cheese! Time, cheese! Time, cheese!" she sang.

I stared at her.

"See, I couldn't remember this one word, _recently_ in the explanation for how this one type of selection occurred, and _recently_ rhymes with _becently_ which rhymes with _cheesently_, like cheese!"

More rhymes.

"And then, I couldn't remember the words _over time_ in the definition for evolution according to population genetics, so there comes the time. Put them together, and what have you got? Bibbity bobbity bibbity bobbity bibbity bobbity boo! Time cheese!" Becky sang to the tune of the fairy godmother's song in Disney's Cinderella.

"I think all my friends are actually insane, but in denial," I muttered as Twilek began obsessing again, and as another friend, Molly, came running down the lunch room singing, "Man of the Wooood!"

Legalos, I presumed, although I wasn't sure. I _had_ watched those Lord of the Ring movies, but I hadn't really paid that much attention.

Molly sat down and reached across the table to take my milk, her heavy bracelets clanking. "Hey, Maya, are you going to the Country Fair thing? I am."

"Um," I managed, as Twilek grabbed Molly's arm and pointed at the Kyrgyzstani kid. "Isn't he _so_ hot!"

Molly sprayed milk everywhere as Jenny King sat down next to me. "Lovely," the android in disguise as a human teen said. "I sit down and get sprayed by milk."

Molly pointed at Twilek. "It's her fault. She said _he _was hot."

Jenny looked over to where Molly was indicating and shrugged. "I really couldn't care less."

"Quiz me," Becky demanded again, and both Twilek and Molly turned to her, allowing Jenny to tell me in a low voice, "The Country Fair is bad news."

I nodded, whispering, "I guessed as much. Do you know any details?"

She shook her head. "My brother should be coming over later, although I won't be."

Ok, that was weird. Jenny usually didn't come over anyway – it was Erek who was our talebearer. There was something behind all this.

"Why not?" I asked.

She looked at me with grim eyes. "My parents are getting divorced."

I almost fell off of my chair. First of all, Jenny's parents aren't even her parents; they're a bunch of ancient robots that parade as her parents. She's as old as they are. And a divorce? What the heck did she mean?

I asked her.

"They've been arguing lately," she said. "You know, about who and what to support. My mom wants to go all out, but Dad isn't that supportive. You know, the whole use violence or not thing."

I heard her and translated in my mind. Jenny's mom, whose name was Leah, wanted to be more aggressive against the Yeerks, but Mr. King, and Erek, didn't.

Which was really weird. I mean, Erek and his "dad" were known to be the ones who actually wanted to resist the Yeerks, among a small minority. Did this mean that there was even a smaller minority who wanted to fight the Yeerks?

I asked her in thought-speech, something I am able to do because of the Ellimist. Or, because of what he did to me. It's confusing, just deal with it. Anyway, Jenny nodded, and answered. "There are five of us. We all want to live together, away from the others, because they don't accept us."

The Chee want to be able to do violence?

She shook her head. "No, we just want to do more than espionage."

We cut the conversation there, because it was getting dangerously close to revealing everything.

And that was something that neither of us wanted to do.

Funny, actually. Jenny was millenniums old, and she was a robot. I had a fourteen-year-old human body that was Amer-asian due to the use of the Forsil Maneuver, but had the mind of seventeen-year-old Elemaki, the name of the inferior race on the Andalite Home World.

And we were more similar than anyone else in this three thousand nine hundred and sixty three point one six seven six radius span of Earth.

It actually isn't funny.

It's depressing, that my best friend isn't even alive.

Then again, that means she's not gonna die either, which is a good thing after all the deaths I've witnessed.

I got up to dump my tray, and ran into Marco on the way.

"Hey, did you hear-" he started, but I cut him off with, "I know, I know, I heard."

He raised an eyebrow. "Bad day?"

"Yeah. Poetry test today."

Marco fake winced. "Oh no, did it bite?"

I shoved my plastic tray into his hands and stalked off. I wasn't in the mood for his jokes, especially after hearing them continuously for a year.

A year. I couldn't believe it. A year ago I had been…

What had I been doing?

I couldn't even remember, that's how consuming this war was.

And now this. This Country Fair. Well, apparently everyone knew about it, so we were really just getting together to talk about what we should do. And after the Fair, there was this concert, or a talent show or something where the orchestra played, and the students put together some talent or another. Mom had tried to get me to do a Tae Kwon Do thing, but I refused. I didn't want that many people to know that I could kill with one blow.

The less information for those who cannot act, the better it is for those who can.

I made my way to the library, and flopped in front of a computer, thinking about Aximili this time. The Andalite that I had hated when I first started fighting, yet who had helped me even when he considered me beneath him. Of course, I had to bend first and ask for his help, but in the circumstances at that time…

I blew a breath out, and sat up. I still hated the Andalites for killing my mother and father, but Aximili I could live with. I could even fight with him.

Looking around to make sure that no one was near me, I began methodically hacking into the Mac that was so slow that I was sure I'd be dead by the time the program loaded.

"I hate Macs," I muttered to nobody, and then leaned forward when the computer began spewing out information about the Country Fair.

Nothing especially classified, so I continued to browse through, noting that there would be standard activities like that one thing where you sat on a diving pool and someone threw balls at a lever to make you go into the water, dunking for apples, random human activities that somehow were entertaining.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and was furious that I hadn't noticed anyone coming.

"So, Maya the street kid is looking up stuff for the Country Fair tonight, huh?"

"Mmmm," I responded, while restarting the computer, and shrugging the guy's hand off of me, who was Brett – I could tell by his voice.

"What, don't want me to see something?" he asked, laughing in his own stupid way. "I could tell the teachers that you're doing something illegal, and since you are a street-kid…"

I could hold it in, I really could, I really should –

I stood up and punched him in his gut, and watched as he stepped backwards, gasping for breath.

"You -" he started, but I shoved my chair away and held up my fist again.

"Yes?" I asked, quietly.

He looked up, his face full of anger as he launched his big body at me. I turned away and back kicked him in the face, but he was quick enough to let it glance off of his shoulder.

Wow. An actual fight that would be somewhat of a challenge, for once.

I dropped to the floor and kicked out, tripping him to the floor. I pulled out just as he fell heavily, but he reached out and grabbed my foot, twisting my shoe around. I simply slipped my foot out of my shoe and brought my heel down into his nose.

Blood spurted. Game over.

The librarian, Ms. Davis called over. "Excuse me, if you want to talk, go to the lounge. It's not a punishment, that's what it's for." And then looking a little more closely, she said, "He's bleeding!"

I waited while Brett got up and sneered at me with his broken nose. "I'll get you."

I smiled

Ms. Davis scolded me as she led me to the principal's office. "You know fighting isn't allowed in school, Maya. Why do you persist on doing this! It drives all the teachers mad."

I let her talk, simply letting it roll off of me as I went to the principal's office, and then was directed to a room for an in-school suspension for the rest of the day.

I waited until one of the teachers slipped out to switch with another, and then I jammed a paper clip into the lock, keeping everyone locked out. Another student who was with me looked on with interest.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

Ignoring him, I went to the window, and opened it just enough to pull myself through on my belly. I was two floors up, but after years of climbing buildings on the streets a little hanging and clinging wasn't that bad.

I dropped to the ground lightly, just in time to catch a bus to Cassie's house.

I looked back at the school as I boarded the bus. It was a huge school, full of students who had nothing better to do than be forced there to "learn." Twilek thought that school was just a conspiracy to keep kids busy, but then again, all my friends were crazy.

And suddenly, I hated that building more than I had ever hated anything else in my life.

I shook the feeling off.

I was probably just PMSing.

**Review Responses**

Hey, sorry that I haven't updated in a while – I decided to update every six to eight reviews, depending on when I have time. It's six this time – I couldn't stand the not updating. I have eight people on my author alert list, so it isn't that much to ask. Y'all should be reviewing anyway! ;)

**Custardpringle** – I'll look into it. I actually wrote that intro in 9th grade during the poetry unit, and we were learning about Dylan Thomas and I thought that poem was cool, but I have Maya not like poetry.

**Wraithlord42 **– sorry about spelling haiku wrong… thanks for pointing it out – my spell check didn't. And yeah, all your reviews got deleted, but don't worry, there'll be more stories!

**Hey** – I thank ye.

**Tabatha**** – **Sorry about having it just be summary – this chapter moves it on a little more quickly. I was just doing that for any new readers. Thanks for your review!

**DH ****L'Orange**** –** I _am_ the Energizer Bunny. I run on mulberries, picked from thorny trees in my backyard and this yummy Korean dish that consists of kimchee (spiced cabbage), meat (from cows) dipped in sesame oil mixed with salt. There are a lot of other side dishes, but I don't know how to say them in English. And it would take too long. Oh yeah – I run on milk, too! And just to tell you a kind of a secret that everyone can read if they want, to I already have Chapter 6 written. But I'm not going to update so crazily like The Aging since I actually want to get a response this time. Besides, it actually takes longer to update the chapters instead of writing them. See ya!

**Anonymous-cat **– Yeah, I hate transitory writing. I write so badly when I have to do it cuz I absolutely detest it. And sorry about the summary thing – I was doing that for new readers, so they won't be totally lost since Maya has a background! And Maya finding something worth fighting for -  CHEESE! That is a major theme I'm playing with. And don't worry, the other chapters are coming up soon. As soon as I get my quota of reviews. See ya!

Remember, just eight. Or seven. Or even six. I want to update, you want to read, work with me here. It's the reviews that bring us together.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

I was the first one to arrive at the barn, and so I seated myself on a bale of hay.

"Where's Cassie?" I asked the hawk that watched out for newcomers.

She's in the house, Tobias told me, wings flapping. I think she needed to go to the bathroom.

I nodded, not really interested. Pulling out a book I had been reading, I unfolded the corner that I had creased to mark my spot and continued.

What are you reading?

Go away.

"Ah, Xenocide, by Orson Scott Card," I answered shortly, and then went back to reading.

Tobias was silent, and then asked, Do you mind if I read with you?

I turned to look at him. "Morph human, and I'll give you his first book. It's called Ender's Game. Card's an amazing writer, so I always have a few of his books at hand so I can reread them whenever I want to."

I can't, he told me. I have to watch and make sure no one sneaks up on us while we're in here.

"Oh." A pause, then, "Then how would you read with me?"

I can see the words from up here, he explained. That way I can stay here and then I can look up every once in a while to see if someone's coming."

"Ah."

Tobias flapped his wings loudly. You're the worst conversationalist I've ever met. Even Ax talks more than you, although half the time I don't know what he's talking about.

I grinned at that, and asked, "So, where is Aximili?"

Tobias responded with a question of his own. Why do you call him Aximili?

I shrugged. "I'm used to it. Aximli-Esgarrouth-Isthil isn't hard to pronounce for me."

Oh. Tobias was silent for a while, and I returned to my book.

Cassie came in, carrying her books as well. "Oh, Maya," she said, genuinely surprised. "You got here fast."

I nodded, eyes fixed on my page. "Yup."

The others are coming, Tobias announced. One, two, three-

At three Jake and Marco walked in, joking about something pointless, as usual. I stuck my finger in my book to mark the spot and looked up.

"Where's Rachel?"

Right on cue, she walked in, a little breathless. "Sorry I'm late."

"Did you run all the way over to see me?" Marco teased and Rachel snorted in response. "As if."

Aximili galloped in at that point, and Jake clapped his hands.

"Ok, now that we're all here," he started when Marco broke in. "Sir, yes, sir, present!"

I waited for Rachel to tell Marco off for being a fool, and when she did, I marveled at how I knew it. To know these people's characters this well... to be so connected to them...

And of course, Jake was taking control again, steering the discussion back on topic, and Cassie, puttering around the barn doing odd chores. Aximili appeared to be talking to Tobias, while I - I sat there simply observing.

And adding to the general confusion.

"Jake," I called out, and grinned when Aximili bristled. He had gotten into his head somehow that since I wasn't human that I should call Jake, prince, like him.

So of course I didn't.

"Jake," I said more insistently. "I've got news."

I proceeded to tell them what Jenny had told me about the Country Fair, adding that Erek would come today, when Rachel shook her head.

"No, Erek called me before I left and said he wouldn't be coming. That's why I was late. He said he tried to call you, Jake, but you had already left. He said something about his parents divorcing, but I told him I had to go."

"Wait a sec," Marco said. "His parents are getting _divorced?_ As in, leaving each other because they aren't happy with their marriage? When did _Chee_ ever care about that?"

"It's more than just a divorce," I put in. "Jenny told me that some of the Chee feel like they need to do more against the Yeerks, not just passive spying."

"Um, a little problem, though," Marco responded. "Chee are _programmed_ to be pacifists. They can't do _anything_ but passive spying."

I shrugged. "Well, apparently, the Chee who is masquerading as Jenny's mom, along with Jenny and three others want to go "all out" or something like that. They are a really small minority, while the Chee who just want to do what they are doing are a little bigger, and the Chee who don't care are the majority."

"I wonder why they're having this problem," Cassie commented softly.

Well, they are androids, maybe it's a programming glitch, Tobias offered not that enthusiastically.

No, Aximili countered, It probably comes from a branch of code that allows these androids to simulate feeling. After viewing our struggle against the Yeerks, an application of data mining would mostly likely predict what the Chee would do.

"Speak in English, Ax," Rachel ordered. I ignored her and then turned to Aximili and asked, "But wouldn't that require reasoning, something that is a purely sentient characteristic?"

Not necessarily, he answered. Machines can reason after a fashion, although it isn't nearly as sophisticated as sentient reasoning. They simply are able to process information much more quickly than even an Andalite could.

"So, in English, that means computers are a lot dumber than humans, but a lot faster," Marco translated.

"Yeah," I agreed, slightly impressed that he had been able to follow.

"But the Chee are almost sentient, aren't they?" Cassie asked.

No, Aximili responded, and I took over, saying, "Think about it like this. If you programmed a robot that looked a dog, for example -"

"Like the Chee!" Marco interrupted and I glared at him. "Sorry, sorry," he whispered.

"Anyway, if you programmed this dog to, you know, fetch newspapers, greet you when you got home, etc. it would seem like he loved you. You could program it to _act_ like it loved you. But you know, inside, that it doesn't. It's only programmed to act that way. And I know it sounds harsh, but that's the same thing with the Chee. They are robots, no matter which way you look at it, and they are programmed. They may want to be real, but that's a simulated feeling that's programmed into them."

"Like Pinocchio? I want to be real boy!" Marco said in the voice of Pinocchio from the movie Shrek.

A real boy? asked Aximili, and I put my head in my hands.

"I'll explain it to you when you're older," promised Marco with a grin.

"Yeah, when you're dead," I muttered.

Elemaki, he responded sharply in private thought-speech, You will not speak that way to me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why?"

The Andalite's eyes blazed. You are an Elemaki.

"I'm probably the only one left after what the Andalites did to us," I shot right back. He stepped closer, and raised his tail blade threateningly.

No way could I win against that blade, but if I taunted him enough…

"So, can't fight without your tail, huh? Why don't you morph to human and fight me fairly, or are you too scared?"

That particular taunt worked with everybody. Everybody was stupid. I mean, handicap yourself purposefully because of something your opponent said? Of course your opponent would say something like that, but everyone assumed that it was true, just because.

No, Aximili replied curtly, as he began to morph.

Jake stepped in. "Do we have to go through this every meeting? And what brought this on anyway?"

"Is something wrong?" asked Cassie. "You two haven't had a problem like this for a while."

"Too busy stressing over David," I told her as Aximili demorphed back to his Andalite form, as Jake ordered.

You realize that you were as foreign to the band of fighters as David was, he told me, and for some reason, that got me mad.

I had fought beside them, bled nearly to death with them, and the Andalite called me just as bad as David?

And why did I care?

"That's not true," Rachel said, her eyes flashing. "She's fought with us and never backed down. She's killed more people than any of us."

Truer than you'll ever know, Rachel.

Anyway, back to the Chee and the Yeerks, Tobias said, breaking in. What else did they say?

"That's it," I told them, leaning back.

"So let's go in and blow up the buildings where they are keeping the junk for this Country Fair," Rachel said impatiently.

"Let's not and say we did," countered Marco immediately.

"No," I said, "Let's kill the people who are organizing this event."

"How about a plan?" suggested Jake.

"You can't _murder_ them in cold blood," Cassie told me. "That's just wrong."

I like Jake's idea of a plan.

"Ok, so let's first do some spying. We really know nothing about this event, so Rach, Cassie, Maya and Tobias, you take to the air, and Marco, Ax and I will go as bugs," Jake said.

"I hate bugs," Marco grumbled. Then looking up, added, "Hey, how come Tobias gets all the girls?"

"You want me?" Rachel said, standing up threateningly. "You _want me?_"

"On second thought, no," he decided, and then looked around. "Cassie's already taken, even if Jake doesn't admit it, so Maya! What about you?"

I glanced at him, my gaze impassive.

"I guess not! So, buddy Jake, just you and me again, huh? And Ax-man, too."

"Let's go," Jake said as he stood up.

"Erek said that committee isn't meeting until five thirty so we've got some time," Rachel told us as she stood up to stretch. "Let's go early and smash some things."

"No. Homework."

Everyone pulled out their bags, and I put my book away to finish a history assignment I had. I finished it in about five minutes, and then handed it over to Marco to copy.

Cassie took it from Marco and handed it back to me, and indifferent, I put it away.

"Hey," Marco said. "I needed that."

"Do it yourself," Cassie told him. "If Maya actually cared about your future then she wouldn't let you copy her stuff."

"What future?" he said with sarcastic smile. "If we win, it's not like I'm going to stay in school. And if we lose… well, it doesn't really matter then, does it? C'mon Maya, give it to me."

I pulled it out and handed it to him and this time Cassie didn't stop me.

I didn't care about him. Or any of them.

That Andalite! Why should I care about any of them – he made it sound like I wanted their trust.

I pulled out a notebook and opened it, scanning the notes I had made previously, during math class.

Except these weren't math notes.

Slowly, in my free periods, and in the classes I didn't pay attention in, I had been writing out a system of government, one that would apply to a world where Kyan and Nadar could live together.

Civilians and soldiers.

Was it possible?

In the utopia I was creating, it was.

**Review Responses**

Ok, six reviews! I'm updating now. And in case any of you are confused about the utopia Maya is babbling about, just know that it's going to a major major part of my later books. And also, I'm going to start an original based on this fanfic on fictionpress in the later half of the summer, so keep tuned for that!

**DH** – Sorry about the confusing conversation. That was (as scary as it might sound) actually pretty similar to the kind of conversations my friends and I have at lunch time sometimes. Albeit the Nadar and the robot deal, but other than that… my sister did go around school singing time cheese to help study for a bio test. Anyway, the split with Jenny and co. also play a big part later… but I won't get into that now. And I'm glad you liked how she got away from suspension – climbing schools always held some kind of lure for me. And I'm half Korean, actually, but Half Korean Pearl is kind of weird (I mean, half a pearl, or half a Korean?) Maya was originally going to be just Korean, but then I decided to make Anna a little more important, and I always thought that the Animorphs needed some Asianess. I mean, they're so racially diverse, but no Asians! Come on. And the Talent Show stuff is coming up. I don't think there's a Talent Show in the books, and if there is, I missed it. Thanks for your review!

**Tabatha**– Thanks for reviewing anyway, and here's the next chapter!

**Wraithlord**– I reviewed your story about joining, and if I have time I'll write something up. Sorry, I just have no time with studying for SATs and doing lab work etc. etc. I actually wrote this about a week ago, but I'm updating at a slower pace then I did the Aging. And about betaing, remind me in three and a half weeks, when some of my classes will be over and I'll have time to email you. I really need a beta for character wise, since I'm not so good at that. But anyway, remind me about that. Thanks!

**A-cat **– About Maya, my sister told me that she's beginning to forget that she's a serial killer, and since I want people to know that she is bad and that she is a murderer (and that is bad, since a lot of stories have a problem with realizing that) I'm going to throw in some more stuff maybe. She doesn't have perfect Control yet, so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for your review!

**Hey** – thanks.

Ok, only six more reviews, minimum. Remember, the faster you review, the faster the update!

(In other words, please, pretty please, pretty pretty please review a lot with a nice fat cherry on top?)


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I am posting a shout for Hell-Flame-Narf by his/her request. (Sorry, I don't know your gender.) SHOUT!

Chapter 4:

I was daydreaming again. Thinking about the utopia in my mind as I swooped through the sky, soaring, just happy to be free from the restraints of humanity.

Maya, we're supposed to be spying, Rachel reminded me grumpily, and I came back down to earth, or at least back to the atmosphere that surrounded earth.

We were looking out for any unusual activity around the grounds, and with _our_ eyes, it would be easy to notice. The other boys, minus Tobias, were listening in on the Yeerks' plans at a Sharing meeting, and we would meet up with them in half an hour.

It was a short mission, which was good, because it was getting harder and harder for the others to hide from their parents whenever there was a mission. The Chee substituted most of the time, but I had the feeling that this time it wasn't going to happen.

With this new trouble about Mr. and Mrs. King getting divorced…

Look at that truck driver, Tobias alerted us, and Rachel and I turned our focus to a burly man who was yelling at the workers for mishandling a pool-like object.

It's a whatchamacallit, Cassie said unhelpfully. You know, those pool things where people sit on the end of a diving board, and then when someone hits the board with a ball they fall into the pool.

Oh, I know what you're talking about, Rachel answered. I don't know what it's called, but yeah, it does look like it.

So what is it for? I asked.

I bet the Yeerks wait there until someone falls in and then they infest them, Tobias said darkly.

Well, let's stop them then, Rachel said and dove forward.

Rachel! Tobias called, but it was too late. She rocketed forward in her eagle morph, and then with a harsh cry scratched up the driver's face as she flew by.

Oh well, too late now, I commented, and dove forward as well, although not as quickly. I aimed at one of the worker's eyes and pecked it out with my beak before swirling upward.

Oh, nice idea, Rachel told me as she swept forward for another run. I flapped to get more altitude so I would have more power on my downward flight when –

Watch out! Tobias yelled.

A peregrine falcon zoomed out of nowhere, closing its talons on my small merlin body.

Uh oh.

I wriggled free and dove towards the workers again, hoping that the falcon wouldn't come after me. It didn't, although the truck driver was now holding a plywood board and attempting to hit Rachel and me with it.

We were fluttering around like a pair of hummingbirds with no flight stamina, although we still had our talons and our beaks when WHAM!

The truck driver hit Rachel over the head with his board, and she went down to the ground. I zoomed away as fast as I could and then turned in mid-air to swipe down on his skull. Tobias and Cassie had joined the fight as well, and the three of us managed to peck out another eye.

Rachel, Tobias cried. Are you ok?

I will be as soon as I get to tear this guy's throat out, she answered groggily, trying to flap her wings to get up.

It's been half an hour, I announced. We should be getting back to the barn with our information.

What information? asked Tobias dryly as he scratched away with his razor-sharp talons.

Okay, I'm good, said Rachel as she flapped her wings experimentally and then began half-fluttering, half-hopping away. Lets get up higher for another run.

No, let's go back, I said. We aren't doing any good here; we're just announcing that the Andalite Bandits are aware of this project. I hope Jake isn't too angry with us.

Rachel took off into the sky and the rest of us peeled away, flapping upwards as the Controllers shook their fists and hurled curses after us.

Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.

That's actually not one of my sayings, but it's fun to say anyway.

We flapped off.

                                                -------------------------------

I rang the doorbell about a dozen times, impatiently trying to get someone to open the door. Sam opened it. "Where have you been?" he asked, as I brushed passed him.

"With some friends," I grunted. "Where's Mom?"

"At the foster center. There's another girl whose single mother died and they want someone to take her in."

I nodded, my mind on what Jake had ordered. Gather together in an hour to stomp out the Country Fair grounds.

We would wait until everything was set up, but right before people arrived so we could run through as big animals stomping on everything.

Rachel liked the idea of course, and I was on strict orders not to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary. I could Control myself, anyway, so it wouldn't be that bad.

And after that, there was a rumor that Jake and the others had heard about something happening that night while the orchestra played, but we weren't too sure about it.

I was in orchestra actually – played flute, which I found extremely ironic. I had absolute control over the muscles in my mouth since I didn't have one before, allowing me to notice every muscle that I didn't use before. I could have been better at the flute, except I didn't practice at all.

Hey, got to save the world, no time to practice.

I made my way to my room and flopped on the bed, throwing my backpack to the floor. I had an hour to rest, except I was restless, and didn't want to read or write or do anything that required staying still.

I looked at the open window, Aximili's unspoken challenge calling to me.

No one else would be there…

I locked my door and morphed to merlin, shedding my clothes to the floor before taking flight. I had an hour before we got together in our big morphs to do some damage, and this would be just the thing to keep my mind occupied.

I flew into the forest, and found Aximili in his scoop, pacing.

I'm here, I announced, and glided to a stop on the floor before demorphing.

I faced him as a human.

"Morph," I told him. "I want to get this over with. We've been at each others throats ever since I came, and let's just fight and do this stupid supremacy battle."

He looked at me with his main eyes.

Fight as humans?

"No, fight as pigs," I snapped impatiently. "What do you think?"

Why do we not fight as Andalite and Elemaki?

The thought arrested me, and I realized that he would surely beat me if we fought with tail blades, while if we fought as humans, I would definitely kick his butt.

"So, both," I suggested. "You go as a human first."

The Andalite nodded, something he had picked up from humans, and morphed until he was the pretty looking boy that had a mixture of Cassie's, Jake's, Rachel's, and Marco's DNA.

I studied his build, and realized that this would be child's work. Except I couldn't kill him, so I would just make it as painful of a beating as possible.

"Now," he sneered. "Do your worst, Elemaki."

I smiled at him, and tackled him full on, but he spun away with a speed that was surprising.

And then of course, he fell over.

This would be too easy.

I kicked him. "Get up."

He sprang at me, and I side kicked him in the gut, causing him to bend over with a groan, and mercilessly I threw a hooker punch that caught him in the side of the face and smashed him into a tree.

"So, now what do you say?" I asked.

"Elemaki scum," he breathed.

My temper boiled, and I simply let go of my Control and attacked him. This was too much. After school, after the aborted missions, after all the deaths, after my brother and my mother to stand there and take it from an Andalite.

I woke up when I found myself slamming Aximili against a tree, gripping him by his neck, his face a bloody mess.

MAYA! Tobias shrieked. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

I abruptly released Aximili, and he fell to the ground.

I breathed deeply, my hands apart as I stared at him. His face turned blue, as he began demorphing into his Andalite self, but the blood remained on his face.

So you can fight, Elemaki, he said almost grudgingly. Let's see how well you fare on my terrain.

Tobias began morphing to human, and as soon as he had a mouth and a head, he was shaking it and saying, "No. This is so incredibly stupid. Don't do it."

I looked at him through the red haze in my eyes, and saw only the dirty blonde haired boy who had stopped me from saving my father.

And blindly, I threw myself at him as soon as he had a human body, hitting him, desperately trying to beat this awful, devouring feeling out of me by hurting anything in my path, and Tobias, this boy who was the complete opposite of me, I needed to hurt someone, I needed to, my father, oh help me, I didn't know.

I kept hitting him blindly, but Tobias didn't return my blows but sheltered himself from them, trying to grab my arms to stop but I was too strong, I had fought and now…

An Andalite tail blade was at my throat and even in this dazed feeling I knew I was to stop.

Get off of my _shorm_, Aximili ordered, and I stood.

I glanced at the boy who I had beaten to the floor and reached out a hand to help him up. Tobias was gingerly touching a black eye and smiled with a bleeding lip.

"Wow, I haven't had a beating like that in a while."

"I haven't given one like that in a while," I answered, and for one moment, we understood each other.

But the moment passed, and I was facing Aximili who was ordering me to morph to Elemaki. I did, ready now to get whatever beating I could to erase myself, undo myself, eradicate my very existence.

My tail split out as my shoulders reshaped themselves and I began to sprout blue fur all over my body as two legs shot out of my chest.

I concentrated on this image of me that I hadn't been for so long, and then stood, ready to fight the Andalite.

Only he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at my tail.

Only half a curved blade, he whispered, and then his main eyes met mine.

So who was it that gave you an Andalite's blood? he demanded, and I shook my head.

I will not tell you.

Aximili looked grim for a moment, and then stepped back.

I cannot fight a half-breed.

Puzzled, I glanced at him. I thought that half-breeds counted as full Elemaki.

That was twenty-five years ago, he informed me.

Oh. Right. Twenty-five years ago, before I went through that Sario Rip.

Tobias was demorphing, the Andalite was staring at me, and I…

Teach me, I demanded fiercely.

Aximili looked up in surprise. What?

Teach me to fight with this body.

An Andalite smile grew on his eyes, and he nodded once more, probably pleased that I was "submitting" to his "superior" knowledge.

But first…

I turned to Tobias. I'm sorry.

His hawk eyes turned to meet mine.

It's okay.

And for that hour, while I learned from an Andalite how to use my tail blade, and I learned from a hawk how to say sorry and mean it, it was.

**Review Responses **

Sorry! Sorry! I know I said I'd update every six reviews, but I have had _no_ time. But, I'm here now, and thank you for reviewing!

**Wraithlord** – thanks for your help – here it is now!

**A – cat **– Thanks! I worked on making them a little more in character last chapter. And the robots, too – I had a feeling that most people want them to be sentient when they're not, so I wanted to play with that. And wow, you practically read my mind about the Ax/Maya thing. I had written this before I got your review, so I was like, wow. And here's the next chapter!

**Mersang**– I like your idea! Actually, I haven't got everything planned for this Animorphy section, so ideas are good. I have a vague outline for this, and then when I move onto Nadar Chronicles III, I have everything already imagined out. Do you mind if I use your idea? It won't be exactly that, since I have to work it in with everything else, but still. And sorry about the cherries – I like cherries except for the pits. And yours was a pretty long review although A-cat and DH have a few that would rival it. Anyway thanks! And sorry about the spelling error in chapter 1.

**Hey** – thank you.

**Hell-Flame-Narf **– I posted a shout for you, did ya see? Sorry I didn't do it for Chapter 3 – I had already updated that when you reviewed. Anyway, thanks for your review!

**Tabatha**** – **It's I have a couple one-shots and a story started there. I'm going to be putting an original version of the Nadar Chronicles up there sometime, so that'll be there too. And thanks for your review!

**R.A.W-S. Dude.**– What rules? Sorry, I didn't know there were updating rules. And about being selfish (puts on hurt face) if you notice The Aging, which I updated like a madwoman, is not as good quality as this one, nor has as many reviews. I love writing, I love updating, so if I had my way, I'd post the entire story over the space of two days. But if I do that, I don't get any reviews. So I consider it a compromise. Besides, six isn't that much to ask. I have eight on my author alert, so if they reviewed, that would be fine. And being lazy (puts on another hurt face) I have the rest of the story here, I'm just waiting. And question: why do you have the same email as Wraithlord 42? Just curious.

Anyway, sorry I'm late. But thank you all for reviewing and being so dedicated. And thanks to Wraithlord and A-cat especially for reviewing so promptly!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Rachel uncoiled her enormous gray nose and trumpeted.

Let's do it! she bellowed mentally and then charged headlong into one of the booths. Jake lumbered along behind her in rhino morph as Cassie directed him from the air in osprey morph.

I was in my Komodo dragon morph, ripping the flimsy wooden constructions to bits. Marco was somewhere near me, tossing things around with his huge gorilla hands.

I looked up to see Tobias in the air as well, keeping a lookout for any approaching Controllers, and, asking him where Aximili was, crushed another booth

He's on his way to the electronics, Tobias reported. And...now he's taking the pocket knife and cutting them apart.

That must have been easy, I commented, as Rachel trumpeted again. She was in her element, stomping on the carefully-mowed lawns, ripping holes in the grass and dirt wherever she stepped.

I hurried over to the putting grounds and the mini golf areas, clawing the well-tended turf up, and then made my way over to the other booths. Marco had stunned the groundskeepers, and there were no other humans expected for another fifteen minutes.

Another extremely short mission.

I saw Jake run into the little kids' playhouse, and then back out again slowly, to change his angle by thirty degrees and crash through it again. Bits of plaster and wooden beams were falling around his head, and I surmised that Cassie was telling him how to get out of the rapidly deteriorating house.

Ok, Tobias announced. Ax just demorphed and remorphed to harrier, and he's joining us in the sky now. He says we have seven of _our_ minutes left before the people start coming for the Country Fair.

I started towards the pool thing Cassie had pointed out yesterday and ripped it apart as Marco began his usual tedious explanation of how they were just _minutes_ not _our_ minutes or _your _minutes.

Yeerks began pouring out of open containers built into the sides of the pool and after a quick glance to see if Cassie was watching, I crushed them all, smearing them underfoot.

Maya!

_Oops._

I ignored Cassie and her continuous complaints, and continued smashing them into the ground.

Ok, so they were helpless slugs like Cassie said, but who cared? I didn't.

I mean, that was kind of the way I was viewing everybody. I knew they were sentient, but if I had more power, who cared?

Cassie did, for one.

I wandered over to the "apple-bobbing" stand and saw that it was already smashed, noting the flattened Yeerks that surrounded it.

Ok, everybody pull out, Tobias says Controllers are coming, Jake ordered, and satisfied with the destruction, I started running to the less developed areas around the school.

Who is in the talent show tonight? he asked as we ran towards the woods.

I'm in orchestra, I volunteered as Rachel told him that she was in the gymnastics show.

Orchestra is last, I told him, but Jake (who was in tech crew) said, No, there is this light show thing that's last.

I nodded, and then realized that he wouldn't see me and told him in thought-speech.

So that's it for the talent show? he queried. Ok, then. I'll call Erek to see if he has any other information about the Yeerks' plans tonight, and then a quick meeting in the barn before we go.

I can't, Rachel said. My mom wants to go with me to the talent show – there's no way I can sneak away right before.

I'll tell my mom, I said, and then we were in the deeper woods near Aximili's scoop.

Ok, Jake said, when Tobias interrupted, How about Rachel and Maya stick together during the show, and the rest of us will just be around, either in morph or as audience. We – not counting Rachel and Maya – can go together after we meet in the barn.

"Good idea," Jake said approvingly, as a human, and with that we morphed to our various bird of prey morphs and took off for home.

I silently flew into my open window and then demorphed, grabbing jeans and a shirt to wear when Mom knocked on the door.

"Maya? Are you there?"

"Yeah, come in," I said, pulling on my shirt as I crossed the room to unlock the door.

"Maya, why aren't you dressed? The talent show is starting in an hour, and you haven't showered or anything."

I sighed. "Yes, _Mother_."

She laughed, and playfully smacked me as I walked out the door.

"I'm going to be a little late to your show because I have to pick up a new girl at the foster center, okay?" Mom asked as I walked into the bathroom.

"It's not _my_ show," I told her, slightly pleased that she was telling me that she wanted to go.

"Oh, come on, Maya. Sam can give you and Oscar a ride, and I'll come about twenty minutes later."

"Okay. Orchestra plays almost last anyway."

As the words left my mouth, I realized that Yeerks would be there.

"On second thought, Mom, I'll get my own ride and don't come."

She looked at me quizzically. "What?"

I thought spoke to her, something I had never done. Yeerks.

Her eyes opened wide in fear, and I wondered again, what was her story?

"Ok," she breathed. "You don't go either."

I shook my head. "I have to."

"Why?"

"I fight, you know."

That was enough. "Don't you dare get caught," she whispered, and then in a lighter tone said, "Oh, that's perfect. I'll take Oscar and the new girl out, and Sam's been begging me to let him go to a sleepover tonight with one of his friends. Who'll you get a ride with?"

I shrugged. "I can always take a bus."

                                    ---------------------------------------

I showered, dressed, got my flute case, and called Rachel.

"So, are your parents coming?" I asked, hoping for Rachel's sake they weren't.

"I can't convince them not to," she said lightly, but I could hear the worry and the fear behind it.

"Just get them to leave right after your gymnastics show," I advised.

"But what if something happens before then?"

"Oh…"

There was a pause, and then I said in a joking as a tone as I could make it, "I'll get them out if anything happens. I can knock out your mom, and then manhandle her out of there. You'll have to deal with your sisters."

"No, really!" she said, laughing as well, although I could detect her gratitude this time. I hoped the Yeerks weren't as good as "reading" people as I was.

"And also, could I have a ride there? Nobody in my family is coming, so…"

Rachel got it. "And then you can sit with us. Sure, I'll ask."

She left the phone for a moment and then came back with assent. "We'll pick you up in a few minutes. I know where you live, so don't worry about the address."

I thanked her, and then hung up.

Stretching out, I waited downstairs until the doorbell rang. Rachel's mom and mine made a whole lot of fuss about how nice it was that we were friends now, and that it all started that one night in seventh grade when she had come over to baby-sit with me.

Rachel and I didn't grin at each other. Even Rachel had learned something about hiding her feelings.

The ride there was normal - pointless polite conversation as Rachel's mother asked me how I was, what I played, how long I had been playing the flute, while I parroted back to her all the expected answers.

I was getting really good at passing as a human.

We parked in the school lot, as Rachel's mom murmured, "It's too bad that the animals got loose and destroyed the Fair grounds. It would have been fun for you kids to spend some time there."

I politely agreed.

I stuck to the family like glue, eye open for a sign of the others, when Tobias' thought-voice rang out in my head.

Maya? Rachel? Is that you?

Yes, I told him. We're here.

We found out that the Yeerks are doing something with the light show. The Chee are gone right now – they're at a divorce court.

A divorce court.

Yeah, Mr. and Mrs. King are leaving each other. One of the other Chee knew something about how the Controllers were using the light show, but that's it.

"Well, at least it's the last show," Rachel muttered to me, glancing at her family. I nodded, and then asked Tobias, So, what's the plan?

Well, we don't really have one since we don't know what the Yeerks are going to do.

Ah.

Jake and the others are here, though, so we'll do something by the time the evening is over. We're all humans right now, but Ax and I'll need to go to the bathrooms to demorph every so often.

"Tell him to be careful," Rachel murmured to me and I relayed the message.

Jake says just sit tight for now; he'll get to you later. And Rachel -

Tobias suddenly converted to private thought-speech and I left them alone. I had enough of my own thinking to do.

So the Yeerks planned on doing something with the light show? What was this "light show" anyway?

I asked Jake that, and in a few minutes Aximili's thought-voice sounded in my head.

The technical crew is helping several students on stage perform fancy tricks with the lighting, Aximili told me, and nodding to myself, I asked, What could the Yeerks do with that?

We don't know, Tobias sent to me. We have to think about that.

So I thought.

I listed the possibilities in my mind, from the outrageous to the not so outrageous.

1) The beams of light are all Dracon beams – stupid, though, because the Yeerks aren't interested in killing everybody off.

2) The beams blind people so that everyone can't see and then Controllers and Hork Bajir would rush in to infest them – no, too many people and it would be way too hard to have that many Yeerks ready and on hand.

3) The beams…

"I have to go get changed," Rachel told us, and then sent me a look that said clearly, stay with my family.

So I settled back, ready to be bored out of my mind.

**Review Responses**

Beta's Note: Well, that was interesting. . . If anyone reading this wants a beta to proofread spelling, grammar etc, contact Wraithlord42 at levettcornwallis.fsworld.co.uk . Have a nice life.

That's the beta's note, in case you couldn't tell. And thanks to warnings from Wraithlord's friend RAWSD (I skipped the periods) I will now only update when I can, not for a certain amount of reviews. Although I still can't see why it's that hard. I have some people on my author alert and favorites who have never reviewed. Do you not check your email, or what? I'm not angry, just perplexed. I won't mention you by name because that would be mean, but I'm just confused. Anyway, review responses!

**RAWSD – **Yes, Wraithlord did beta this. Yes, I'm following the rules now – thanks for telling me. And thanks to Wraithlord for affirming it. And "AARGH GET OFF NONONONONONOSTOP STOP AARGH!" What does that mean? And thanks also about the ratings warning – I don't watch very many movies so I don't know very well what the ratings should be, but I guess whoring is too strong for PG. I changed all the ratings to PG-13, because I don't want my account to be closed because of a mis-rated story.

**Hey** – thanks.

**Anonymous-cat **– ok, a lot of questions. And yeah, Maya said back off – she isn't so much into the let's smash everything to bits as Rachel is, but more of the let's kill everyone we can and still get away with it. And I was like, she read my mind! When I read your review. And about the stuff that happened in the homeworld, I'll try to work it in sometime. I have a vague idea of what happened, and I'll imagine it some more and refine it. It might not come up for a while, but it will, eventually. Thanks for your review!

**Wraithlord**** 42 – **Thanks for affirming what your friend told me. I don't know him, so I wasn't sure I could trust him at first. And I'll look at your stories as soon as I have time – honestly, I was more updating for time instead of reviews this time. Thanks!

**Mersang**– Thanks for the ideas – like I said, I may not be able to use them exactly, but I think I have a place for them. And are you for Ax/Maya? I'm getting the feeling that a lot of people are. And I'll come read and review your story as soon as I have time – same as Wraithlord. Thanks!

Note to people on author alert who don't review: I understand if you are taken away in vacations for a long time, which happens to some of my more frequent reviewers, like Tabatha, who warned me about it. But it's not just the number of reviews there, although that is a part of it, I won't deny it. But I also want to know your opinions on my work, to know how to improve my writing. Your reviews matter to me, and I know I have improved a lot by reviewers who began with me and reviewed faithfully, telling me where to improve. They weren't all just, Good story. Update. They gave constructive criticism, and I appreciated it, and used it. What more, we became friends due to this connection of our love of writing. And since I'm feeling sentimental right now, I'll name Anonymous-cat, DH L'Orange, Tabatha who started at the very beginning, reviewing The Elemaki Chronicles. I want to thank them for staying with me through my entire saga, which will continue on, and I'm happy that I am confident that they will stay. So review to tell me what you think, because I know you have been reading up to now. Any ideas, any criticism, any appreciation, I love to know your thoughts. Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

An hour later, I was still bored. We still hadn't caught sight of the others, but it didn't really matter, since we didn't know what the Yeerks were going to do. Rachel was done with her part of the show, and kept looking around nervously, probably hating the waiting.

Finally. Applause for about the sixtieth song. Orchestra would be up soon.

I got up to get ready, and Rachel surprised me by saying, "I'll go with you."

We walked in silence until we were out of the auditorium, and then I turned to her. "Are you crazy? Why are you coming with me?"

"I can't stand another minute of it," she told me. "I'll just come with you while you get ready and then I'll go back."

I grunted, and we made our way to the back.

On our way there we passed Mr. Chapman who was smiling to himself and rubbing his hands together.

"Mr. Chapman," Rachel called out. "What are you doing in the high school?"

Startled, he jerked around and then smiled when he saw Rachel. "I was here to see Melissa. So, how have you been, Rachel?"

"Good," she responded. "I'm going with Maya to her rehearsal room so she can get ready for orchestra."

I smiled at him, and noticed the pleased way he was carrying himself.

Something was happening.

Well, no duh, but…

And then it hit me.

Our conductor – a member of the Sharing, naturally – had told us that after the orchestra had finished, we were to remain on stage and stay in our seats behind the curtains until the light show was over. I knew that most of the kids in orchestra were Controllers, so…

One plus one equals two.

The light show, whatever it was, was something to keep the audience immobile while the kids in orchestra infested them.

How? Where were the Yeerks hidden?

I thought of the huge equipment that the drums and the electric guitars used, and almost shivered.

Yes, that would be a good place to store Yeerks.

"Well, it was nice running into you," Rachel said again and as soon as he was out of sight I grabbed her arm and began sprinting.

"What's wrong?" she asked, hurrying along with me. And then in more classic Rachel style, "Maya, let go of my arm and tell me what the heck is wrong with you!"

"I just figured out what the Yeerks are going to do," I told her, and her eyes widened as I told her.

"I have to get back," she said and then pulled her arm out of my grasp.

"No," I told her firmly. "What good will that do? We have to stop the orchestra from getting on."

"And what if you're wrong?" she snapped.

"Then I get to go to a mental asylum," I snapped back. "I've belonged in one ever since I became a Nadar anyway."

"A Na- what?"

"Never mind. I'll tell you later."

But when we got to the rehearsal room, it was locked.

I pounded on the door for a moment, but no one answered.

"Maya," Rachel said. "Did you even consider that maybe you were the only person in the orchestra _not_ belonging to the Sharing?"

I stopped for a moment, and then sucked in my breath.

"We have to go back," Rachel whispered fiercely, and we ran back the way we came.

But the auditorium doors were locked.

Rachel began cursing, screaming at the doors but no-one came, no-one could hear her, especially now that the orchestra was playing.

"Maya?" a voice said behind me, and I saw a few other kids who I knew were in the orchestra.

"The rehearsal room is locked," said a girl there. "And we can't get in."

"I know," I told them, and then said, "Go to the office, maybe there'll be someone who can let us in."

"Why would there be someone at the office?" a boy I didn't like much sneered at me.

"I don't know!" I yelled. "All I know is I'm supposed to be on stage, right now, and I'm _not_!"

"Man, I didn't know you cared so much about orchestra," the guy mumbled and the group moved away.

Rachel looked at me with desperate eyes.

Jake, Tobias, everybody, get out of there. The Yeerks are going to immobilize the audience with their light show and then the orchestra members are going to infest everyone with Yeerks hidden in the instrument holder things, I broadcasted impatiently, not really caring that I wasn't being coherent. Just get out of there, and get Rachel's mom and her sisters too.

No one answered for a moment, and then I heard Tobias say, Ok, Jake says we'll all move out.

I stared at the familiar school halls, towards the door where the orchestra would be finishing up any second now, and then made my decision.

I ripped off my dress where I was wearing my morphing suit underneath and then began morphing to dragon.

Not komodo dragon, but a real dragon, one that breathed fire and that had been acquired offplanet.

After all, schools were made of wood.

We're out… Rachel's mom... told her you Rachel got hurt… we left her… school lot and left… a faint thought voice came through but it died off as I called, Tobias? Aximili?

No one answered this time.

I finished morphing as the orchestra began playing their last number.

Rachel was looking in admiration at my morph, more secure now that her family was safe.

"Where did you get that?"

Off planet, I told her and then stared at the doors.

Rachel? I asked, and she turned towards me.

Do you think that sometimes sacrifices have to be made in war?

Rachel looked at my morph to the wooden doors, and then back at me before she stared in horror, in shock, in realization at what I was about to do.

I opened my mouth grimly, and thought, _It's__ better that they die than become Controllers who would fight us later._

As I roared fire at the doors, I heard a faint whisper: _Better that the Hork-Bajir die then become slaves of the Yeerks._

The fire crackled as it hit the doors and then it blossomed, eating away at the woodwork, creeping along the carpet and the wood structures that held up the brick of the school, burning, burning…

My life seemed centered around either the fire or the ocean.

I blew another fireball at the burning door and it burned right through and into the auditorium. Faint screams issued forth.

Then the fire alarm went off.

I began demorphing, satisfied that the Yeerks wouldn't be able to continue their plans, when I realized that I had underestimated how quickly the fire could travel. It had already eaten its way around Rachel and me and was demolishing one of the doors in the nearer classrooms.

Rachel stared at me, and then shook her head resolutely. "We have to get out of here."

I picked up my flute, and we ran, trying to find a window that we could escape out of.

"You know," Rachel panted as smoke began filling the air. "We could always morph something big and smash our way out."

"And have another animal escape story on the news?" I asked grimly. "The more we show up at school events that Andalites wouldn't really know about, the more information we give away."

Smoke begin entering my eyes and making them water, so I motioned Rachel to lie flat on the floor with me so we could crawl our way out of there. As the fire ate up the school behind us, we managed to find a balance between staying low enough to be able to breathe, and high enough to move more quickly than the fire.

"At least I don't have to take my math test Monday," Rachel offered, and then kept quiet, conserving her breath.

And through the smoke I faintly made out a door.

"There!" I shrieked, pointing. Holding our breaths we darted through into a classroom only to realize that the entire wall was ablaze.

"Window!" Rachel shouted, and I whirled around to see it when she screamed, "Look out!"

A wooden beam, blazing with fire, crashed down beside me. I breathed a sigh of relief- but too soon.

Another part of the wall crumbled, and I was pushed face first into the fire, the pain knocking me out almost right away.

                                                ------------------------------

"Maya! Maya!"

Something was making mouth sounds.

I opened my eyes, only to realize that my stalk eyes were gone.

Gone! And where was Osgaron?

Osgaron? I called. The last thing I remembered was Mamai pushing us forward from the fire, but the fire was all around me!

I crawled forward, and then stared at my hands in horror. They were furless, and tan!

"Maya, answer me. Are you okay?"

I looked up at the strange creature that seemed to know me and almost thrust away in revulsion. It was a hairless creature, and frightening to behold, although not as ugly as some aliens that I had seen holos of.

I moaned through a hole in my face, and asked, Where's Osgaron?

"Who the hell is Osgaron?" the alien snapped, and grabbed me by my shoulders.

I flinched, cowering from its wrath. Please don't hurt me.

Then - shoulders, but no legs! No hooves! What had happened to me?

What happened? I cried. Why am I an alien?

A crafty look came over the alien's face and before I could say another word, she thrust me into the fire.

                                                --------------------------

I batted at Rachel, my face screaming with pain.

"Let go of me!" I shrieked, and Rachel pulled me out, my face a burned mess.

"You know me?" Rachel asked.

"Of course I know you," I snapped, trying to control my voice as it wavered from the pain. "What were you pushing me into the fire for?"

"You went really weird," she told me. "You kept asking for someone named Osgaron, and only spoke in thought-speech."

I turned on her, almost losing control again. "What did I say!" I demanded.

"I don't know, just where is Osgaron, and a bunch of weird stuff. You didn't act like yourself at all. C'mon, let's get out of here before we're burnt to death."

Praying fervently that I hadn't told Rachel anything important from my past, I morphed to merlin and flew out of the window, the frame already crumbling from the flames.

**Review Responses**

Wow. I think my paragraph encouraging everyone to review scared people off. I got tired of waiting to update, so I'm doing it now. And I'm uploading the next chapter at the same time, so everyone be nice and review both please!

And also, I had an idea to move things along in the plot. As most of you know, Cyndi who was in the Aging is a friend of mine, and I also include other friends and people I know in my stories. I'm putting Wraithlord in, and so I'm basically making an offer: if you want a character (either you, or someone you made up) in your story, then tell me. Give me what type of character you want, and I'll see what I can do. Put it in a review, and your character will show up, although he/she/it might not show up for a while, as in several stories later. And remember, I get to do what I want to your character, including death, torture, becoming a Controller, becoming a Nadar, etc. You get the point. Ok, review responses.

**Anonymous-cat – **Thanks so much for reviewing! And I'd actually like to make a character of you because you've been the most faithful about giving me feedback, so please consider it! And Rachel would be a 3rd gen Nadar, although I'll go into that more in Nadar Chronicles III. And now you have two chapters that will fulfill the answer hopefully. See ya!

**Hey** – here.

**Rachel**** 9466 – **Wait a sec, you're going to review _all_ the chapters from wherever you left off till now? That's a lot… and here's the next chapter, not too soon I hope, although the next chapter is right up!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

We flew into the dark night sky, although we could still see clearly from the rippling flames rising high above the school.

The school was burning down.

And I was delirious with joy. That hated building was gone.

Maya, what happens if people find the Yeerk pool under the school?

They won't, I assured her. It's too far underground. Plus, I bet all the construction workers rebuilding the school will be Controllers, anyway.

We flew on in silence, away from the crackling flames and screams and sirens from approaching fire engines.

We touched down a few blocks away and demorphed in a dumpster, climbing out in the darkness.

"Where do we go now?" Rachel whispered, and then answered her question. "Let's find the others."

I thought-spoke openly to the other Animorphs and Cassie answered.

I see you. I'm the owl above you. Whose idea was it to burn the school down?

Mine, I told her giddily.

She didn't respond, but her silence said enough.

The other Animorphs slowly floated down through the night sky and demorphed, except for Aximili and Tobias who hovered above us.

"Where's my mom?" Rachel demanded as soon as they had finished. Jake answered.

"I told her that you got hurt, and that I had called the ambulance and you were in the hospital. She took Jordan and Sara with her and left."

Rachel threw up her hands. "So now I'm supposed to be in the hospital! And what do we do if she finds out I'm not there?"

Jake sighed, rubbing his temples. "Okay. Tobias, you and Ax go back to the woods for the night. The rest of us…"

The faintest glimmer of an idea started to take from in my head and I raised my hand. "Jake, my mom was a former Controller, so she'll take us in and won't ask questions."

They all stared at me, but Marco was the first to break the silence. "A former Controller? Are you sure…"

I cut off his doubts. "I'm sure. I fought the Yeerks before I met you and she never gave me away. I didn't tell her about you guys because if she got infested, then… you get it. But anyway, we can go there."

"There's really nothing else we can do," replied Jake.

And so I morphed my phone out of my ear and called her.

                                                ---------------------------------

"So _you_ are the infamous Andalite bandits that one of our spies has been talking about," was the first thing that Mom said when she picked us up.

"You've heard of us?" asked Marco uncertainly, and she nodded.

"Yes. I belong to a Resistance group, and one of the members is a spy – Ruth King, actually."

"Um, Mom," I started, and she looked at me.

"Is that Ruth King the same Ruth King who is getting divorced from her husband?"

"Sadly, yes."

Mom started to go on, but I cut her off. "Actually, that woman is an android. A robot. She's a member of the Chee, a race or advanced robots from another planet."

Mom took that in for a moment, and said, "Oh."

"Mrs. Lancing," Jake broke in. "We really appreciate your offer to let us stay, but our parents think we're at each other's houses. Sometimes the Chee would cover for us using their hologram technology, but this time, because of the issue with Mr. and Mrs. King, they couldn't. And frankly, we have no idea what to do."

My mom thought for a moment, and then nodded her head slowly. "I have an idea."

She paused. "Maya has a bad reputation in school, right?"

I assured her that I had the worst reputation possible.

"Well, what if she had a party, and everyone got drunk, and a couple of kids didn't go home yet? You could pretend to be really drunk. And to save my reputation, I'll leave and come home in shock. We have beer in the basement."

"You know, that's a good idea, Mrs. Lancing," Jake said. "And it would explain why Rachel isn't in the hospital – I would have lied, to hide the fact that she was in a party."

"Except for we'll be grounded for the rest of our lives," reminded Marco.

Cassie shrugged uncomfortably. "And I'm really not the type of person to get drunk."

"Well, how about Cassie's the one who calls everyone's parents after we get drunk," I suggested. "Rachel could've forced her to come, but she didn't drink. But wait – Mom, what about the new foster girl who you were supposed to pick up?"

"They wouldn't let me have her," she told me. "The center wanted to be known as diverse, so they decided to give her to a homosexual couple."

"Oh. Oh well, better for us, then," I said, shrugging. "Now, Sam's not home, so when we get there we can trash the place as if we had a party…"

We continued to plan until we got there, and then Mom dropped us off, promising to be back in twenty minutes.

"Ok, twenty minutes," I said. "Let's get to work."

I first got clothes for everybody, lending Sam's clothes to Jake and Oscar's clothes to Marco, and mine for Cassie and Rachel, and then I brought beer bottles from the basement. We started trashing the house, making it look like we had a wild party there, and when we turned on the music loudly Oscar came down and started helping us.

We were done in fifteen minutes, and Cassie said, "Okay, everyone, you have to have alcohol on you breath, so hurry up and drink it. I'll call as soon as you can act drunk enough."

I opened up a bottle and chugged it down, wiping my mouth after I downed it. "I haven't had any of this stuff for so long," I commented, and then handed it over to Rachel. She tried a sip, made a face, and then swallowed, shuddering. "It's nasty."

I opened another bottle and gave it to Marco who took it, joking about how this was the weirdest way a mission ever ended.

We passed the bottles around, and Jake ordered, "Okay now, everyone act drunk."

Whether it was from the drink or from the release of stress, we all giggled, as we started to act really drunk.

Cassie started calling our parents, and each of them, according to her, promised to be there right away. Mom walked in thirty seconds later and started scolding us, yelling at me for being so irresponsible, just so the neighbors would hear her.

I, for my part, acted drunk.

Rachel's mom came first, furious at Jake for "lying" to her, she dragged Rachel out and presumably told her that she could never see me again. Mom did her part, also acting really angry as she apologized for my behavior and said she would have to talk to me seriously.

Cassie's parents came, proud of her for not being tempted to drink with the rest of us, and then Jake's parents, and Marco's dad, all acting like parents should when they find their kids in strange homes surrounded by beer bottles.

And then they were gone.

I got up, and started picking up the trash. "Sorry we had to mess up the house like that, Mom."

"I understand," she told me softly, and then bent over to help me.

We worked silently, cleaning up everything, while I realized that after this, I could probably never get together with Rachel, Jake, Marco and Cassie in public again.

We finished in about an hour, and then exhausted, sat down on the couch.

"Go to bed, Maya," Mom told me, her eyes soft. "You need it."

I nodded, and got up. But before I went up the stairs, I turned towards her. "Mom, you know our story. You've helped us, and I know you will in the future. I want to know your story now."

She looked at me for a very long time.

"Tomorrow," she promised. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

I went to bed.

                                                   ----------------------------

It was Saturday the next morning, and I wandered downtown to see what was left of the school.

About half of it was burnt down, and the rest was waterlogged and crumbling.

In short, it was a mess.

As I stared at it, I heard Rachel's familiar voice a little ways down from me. I turned to see her and her mother arguing about something in front of the school. Sara was with them, looking bored as she fiddled with a small purse.

Suddenly the wind picked up and Sara dropped her purse, and it scraped across the street.

Sara shrieked and darted into the street, right as an eighteen wheeler turned towards her.

Without thinking I tore forward, and grabbed her, throwing her to the ground and pressing on top of her, flattening both our bodies as the truck roared over us, its wheels right by our ears.

Then it was gone and I picked Sara up as she snatched her purse off the ground.

I hurried to the sidewalk and handed the howling Sara to her mother, who was trembling with gratitude.

"Thank you," she whispered. "And about last night… your Mom talked to you right?"

I thought back and remembered her promise. "She said she would talk to me tonight."

Satisfied, Rachel's mom nodded, and thanked me again, and again, and again, before she and Rachel finally left.

I went home, curious now to what my mom's story would be and found her waiting for me.

"Ok," she said, as I walked in. "I've been readying myself for this the entire morning, and I'm ready now."

She looked straight into my eyes, and said, "My name is Helen."

**Review Responses**

Well, there really isn't anything to respond to since I'm putting this up with the sixth chapter, but oh well, I like to talk. The next book will be about Helen's life, which is called The Shrink, in case you miss it. It'll be a little longer than these seven chapter books. And after that, I'm going back to Maya. So far we have finished The Aging, The Nadar, and then next is The Shrink, next is The Healing, then The Papai, The Summons, and finally the last book The Princess. And _then_ Nadar Chronicles III. I still have more after that, but I won't list them here – they're on my bio. Review please!


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